Union with Christ Real Presence, All the Time

Notice then the remarkable fact in the New Testament that because the Spirit has been poured out, and because the age to come has dawned, believers no longer just go to a temple where God is present, but themselves have become a temple where God feels personally at home and lives in intimate contact with his people.[8] The apostle Paul makes the

“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. . . . by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom 8:9, 15). “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal 4:6).

Brought Near by the Spirit Temple of God, “Abba, Father”

The central thesis of this book is that a believing, prayerful and receptive reading of Scripture is an act of communion with the triune God, who is really present to the reader through and with the biblical text.

3 The Arrival of the Age to Come New Intimacy with God

Having surveyed the current cultural landscape within which the Bible is read (or not being read) today, we are in a position to suggest that an enhanced, meditative reading of Scripture can offer the following very real benefits: (1) a pathway to a more personally transformative engagement with the Word of God, which does not replace sermons or

Meditating on Scripture, with faith and by the Spirit, brings us into the living presence of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For over seven hundred years, it would seem, theology and “spirituality” have been going their separate ways, with academic theologians paying scant attention to the life of the soul, and those concerned with the life of the soul and personal devotion finding little sustenance from academic theology. This present essay is a modest attempt to bring